A Reflection for Tuesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Pharaoh’s daughter came down to the river to bathe,
while her maids walked along the river bank.
Noticing the basket among the reeds, she sent her handmaid to fetch it.
On opening it, she looked, and lo, there was a baby boy, crying!
She was moved with pity for him and said,
“It is one of the Hebrews’ children.”
Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter,
“Shall I go and call one of the Hebrew women
to nurse the child for you?”
“Yes, do so," she answered.
Today’s first reading from the book of Exodus focuses on the very early life of Moses. When reflecting on the passage about Pharaoh's daughter who discovers him floating in a basket down the river, I can’t help but think about divine intervention and the deep compassion she expressed when discovering a helpless baby.
It was divine intervention that led Pharaoh's daughter to discover Moses and raise him as her own. At first glance, it appears that she was in the right place at the right time, but what we come to understand was that this was all part of God’s divine plan for Moses. It made me think that so many of life’s twists and turns seem like ordinary life happenings, but our faith encourages us to understand that they are part of God’s individual and divine plan for each of us. In the depths of difficult days, divisive politics, job losses, financial woes and spiritual and emotional unrest, it is hard to consider what God is handing to us is meant to be.
In the depths of difficult days, divisive politics, job losses, financial woes and spiritual and emotional unrest, it is hard to consider what God is handing to us is meant to be.
What courage, compassion and kindness Pharaoh's daughter displayed raising Moses! Rather than adhering to her father’s decree to kill all Hebrew baby boys, she showed compassion and kindness by raising Moses, who ultimately delivered the 10 Commandments. She defied social norms and became an instrument of God’s providence and an example to all of us, even many years later. How often do we defy social norms to do what is compassion-filled and right, trusting in God’s plan for each of us? It is often easier said than done, to be sure.
Hopefully this passage will help you and me to embrace the various and seemingly mysterious in which God works and to be reminded of how kindness, empathy and love should always be part of our moral compass.
